COVID-19 Resources

Reopening Resources

All Indiana businesses are being asked by the State to take measures and institute safeguards to ensure a safe environment for their employees, customers and clients.

Several government entities and industry partners have released guidelines to help companies implement safety plans and procedures. Below are resources to help guide reopening plans.

Federal Resources

State Resources

Industry Resources

Launch Fishers has released its safety plan for reopening, below:

LAUNCH FISHERS COVID-19 SAFETY PLAN

TechPoint has partnered with the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP) to release three return-to-work playbooks for manufacturing, logistics and warehousing, office, and customer-facing settings.

Federal Resources

CARES Act Paycheck Protection Program: The CARES Act allows the Small Business Administration to begin making loans of up to $10 million under the Paycheck Protection Program with an overall authorization level of $349B. Learn more.

Qualifications: The Paycheck Protection Program will be conducted as part of the SBA 7(a) Loan program, general qualifications can be found here. The PPP also includes 501(c)(3) nonprofits, 501(c)(19) veteran organizations, tribal businesses described in section 31(b)(2)(C) of the Small Business Act, sole-proprietors, independent contractors, and other self-employed individuals.

Loans: Loans can used for payroll support, paid leave, insurance costs, mortgage/rent payments, and utility payments. They do not have borrower, lender, or prepayment fees and are 100% government guaranteed. Repayment may be deferred for up to one year.

Forgiveness: All Paycheck Protection Program Loans are eligible for forgiveness in an amount equal to the payroll cost and costs related to debt obligations.
SBA Federal Disaster Loans for Small Businesses: Indiana small businesses can apply for low-interest federal disaster loans from the Small Business Administration. These loans are available for up to $2M to companies experiencing economic injury due to the pandemic. Learn more and apply here.

State Resources

Free Advising for Entrepreneurs: The Indiana Small Business Development Center is providing free advising for entrepreneurs and small businesses impacted by the pandemic. For more information, visit isbdc.org/locations and contact your nearest regional office.
Unemployment Insurance: The State is easing eligibility requirements for unemployment insurance to cover more workers. You can learn more and apply at www.unemployment.in.gov.
New Contracting Opportunities with FEMA: The Trump administration has provided emergency support to FEMA to help state's with their COVID-19 response. If you are interested in supplying products or goods to aid in FEMA’s efforts, the Indiana Procurement Technical Assistance Center offers free counseling and contracting assistance to Indiana small businesses. Click here for more information and visit indianaptac.com/locations to contact your nearest regional office.

Member Resources

The following ITIA Members are offering virtual resources for entrepreneurs and tech companies. If your organization is offering support services and would like to be featured email Molly@HallowellConsulting.com.

Virtual Office Hours—The NIIC in Fort Wayne is offering virtual office hours, which may include open Q&A sessions or focused, topical discussions. Stay tuned to our social media channels (Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram) for details about upcoming events. Topics will include general questions and answers format about current business challenges. Participants will help drive the discussion as well. Local experts will team with Women's Entrepreneurial Opportunity Center (WEOC) to advise on topical issues.

NIIC Virtual Office Hours: Tuesday – Friday at 1:30pm-3:00pm. Contact Mike Fritsch to schedule an appointment.
The Women’s Entrepreneurial Opportunity Center (WEOC) Virtual Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday at 9:00am on Facebook.

Virtual 1-on-1 Coaching—The NIIC is also offering virtual coaching via conference call or ZOOM. You will be matched with one of our professional business coaches, who have the expertise and knowledge to guide you. Please complete the Let’s Talk form, so we know how best to serve you.

More information is available here.

Coaching and Advising for Small Businesses and Organizations

As Muncie area’s premier entrepreneurial support organization, the Muncie Innovation Connector Inc. is prepared to assist you with your business questions and how to deal with this unique business environment.

If your organization or business needs or wants assistance dealing with this new “normal” such as reviewing your current business model, ideas for marketing, or how to deal with employees, etc. please feel free to contact me at tbaker@innovaitonconnector.com to arrange a FREE 30-minute coaching session.

All coaching sessions will be by phone or ZOOM. If we cannot directly help you, we will try to find a connection that can assist you. Coaching appointments will take place from 10 am - 2 pm Monday – Friday until further notice.

Small Business Support:
Salesforce Care: Free Rapid Response Solutions to Help Companies Navigate COVID-19

Salesforce Care for Small Business: Salesforce Essentials, our out-of-the-box CRM for small businesses, will be available to support our small business customers’ sales and customer service efforts.
Tableau for Salesforce Care: Tableau will enable small businesses to make data-driven decisions with speed regarding their unique business challenges.

Product Support:

We’re making our technology available to help our customers, partners and communities. Through Health Cloud, Salesforce will provide free access to technology for emergency response teams, call centers and care management teams for health systems affected by coronavirus. Tableau has developed a free data resource hub to help organizations see and understand coronavirus data in near real-time. This includes case data compiled by Johns Hopkins University as well as data from WHO and the CDC. To help teams collaborate while employees are away from the office, Quip Starter will be available for free to any Salesforce customer or non-profit organization through September 30, 2020.
We are expanding Salesforce Care with free solutions to help companies in any industry stay connected to stakeholders, even when everyone is working remotely. The Salesforce Care solutions are available immediately, and can be set up very quickly. More info here.

Salesforce Care Small Business Grants

- Salesforce will be offering Salesforce Care Small Business Grants of $10,000 to provide capital to help keep businesses afloat. These grants will support small businesses as they work to replenish materials, pay salaries, or adapt their business model to overcome these challenging times. The grant application will be available to US businesses in mid-April and we will be providing additional details on financial support to international small businesses in the near future, for a total financial commitment of $5 million.

The Mill in Bloomington has launched a web portal to help small business owners and entrepreneurs navigate the various support services being offered at the local, state and federal level and match them with the right resource. Check it out at AskTheMill.org.

Indiana technology speaks for itself.